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Biggles' First Flight
Biggles' First Flight is a short story which was first published in The Modern Boy Issue 324, 21st April 1934. The story was subsequently gathered and published in 1935 in the Boys' Friend Library edition of Biggles Learns to Fly where it spanned chapters 3 and 4. The original Modern Boy short story was divided into four sections with subtitles The Boat for France, Two Hundred Bullet Holes, The Honour of the Squadron and Battle!. The 1935 BFL edition split the story at the beginning of the fourth section and created two chapters with the headings The Boat for France and Battle. Subsequent editions such as Brockhampton and Armada did the same until the Norman Wright edition when the story was cast in the original format in The Modern Boy as one chapter. Synopsis On the boat for France, Biggles meets a veteran pilot, Mahoney, from 266 Squadon, who gives him some tips. Biggles then reports to 169 Squadron and is asked to join a combat patrol the same day. Plot (may contain spoilers - click on expand to read) The Boat for France At Newquay, Biggles boards a boat for France. On the trip, another R.F.C. officer, Mahoney befriends him and offers him a few tips on air combat. Biggles finds himself posted to 169 Sqn. Soon after arrival, he experiences the brute reality of warfare. While walking to the mess, he hears an aircraft engine and then sees the officers at the mess waving excitedly at him. He doesn't understand this until almost too late when a bomb bursts not far from him. His aerodrome has just been attacked by a German LVG bomber. Shortly thereafter, Major Paynter comes back from leading a patrol with his aircraft riddled with bullet holes. Biggles watches as a badly injured pilot and his dead gunner are taken out from another aircraft. Hitherto, the text says, Biggles had thought of war "as fun". No longer. Paynter posts Biggles to A flight under Captain Mapleton. They are short of pilots and so he asks Biggles to join his flight for a patrol that same day. Battle Biggles takes off with his flight on his first patrol. He has not flown an F.E. as pilot in command before and he struggles to keep in formation with his flight-mates. The flight is soon in combat and he sees Mark Way, his gunner shooting variously above, behind and in front of him but can't see what he is shooting at. Returning to base, Way tells him they had managed to shoot down an enemy aircraft. In fact the flight had been in combat against seven enemies. Biggles confesses that he had only seen one. And he didn't see the formation of over a dozen enemies that pursued them later, causing the flight commander to run for home. Don't worry, Mark Way tells him. He would seen get the hang of spotting enemy aircraft in the sky. Characters *Biggles *Captain Mahoney *Captain Mapleton *Captain Allen *Todd *Mark Way *McAngus *Marriot *Major Paynter *Lutters *Lane *Forrester *Thompson *Lucas *Captain Rayner *Mardell *Conway Aircraft *F.E.2b *Avro 504 *Maurice Farman Shorthorn *Sopwith Pup *L.V.G. *Unidentified German two-seater - Mark Way (with Biggles as his pilot) shoots down one. Places Visited *169 Squadron Mentioned *Douai Editorial Changes Other Research Notes *Aerial Victories: Biggles 1 References to the past Incongruities Chronology (see also table at Timeline of the Biggles Stories) *September-October 1916 Publication History *''The Modern Boy'', Issue 324, 21st April 1934 *''Biggles Learns to Fly'', Boy's Friend Library 1935 (as Chapter 3: The Boat for France, Chapter 4: Battle) *''Biggles Learns to Fly'', Brockhampton, 1955 *''Biggles Learns to Fly'', Armada, 1963, and subsequent reprints *''Biggles Learns to Fly'', Severn House, 1980 *''Biggles Learns to Fly'', Knight, 1986, and subsequent reprints *''Biggles Learns to Fly'', Red Fox, 1992, and subsequent reprints *''Biggles Learns to Fly'', Norman Wright, 2010 References Category:Short stories Category:Biggles short stories Category:World War One era short stories